Kevin Feige Tries To Explain Why a Solo Female Marvel Movie Took So Long

Everyone was really excited when the first images from Captain Marvel finally dropped yesterday and if the reaction by the internet is anything to go by this is going to be a big one. Female lead movies make money, as Wonder Woman proved last year, and it seems like Marvel is finally getting their act together with the female hero thing. Kevin Feige spoke to Entertainment Weekly and once again confirmed that more solo female movies are on the way.

“With [Ant-Man and The Wasp] and now with Captain Marvel and many movies to be announced in the near future, I’m anxious for the time where it’s not a novelty that there is a female-led superhero movie, but it is a norm,” Feige told EW. “And it is less a story of, ‘Oh, look, a female hero,’ and it’s more a story of, ‘Oh, what’s this about? Who’s this character? I’m excited to see that.’ And I think we can get there.”

We’re finally getting that Black Widow movie even if, by the time it comes out, it’ll probably feel at least five years too late and many of the ladies of Marvel have expressed the desire to do an MCU version of A-Force. So then EW asked the important question; we’re 22 films into this franchise, why did it take so long to get a solo female lead?

“I think there are a lot of reasons,” Feige said, “not the least of which was fighting for many years the erroneous notion that audiences did not want to see a female-led hero [film] because of a slew of films 15 years ago that didn’t work. And my belief was always that they didn’t work not because they were female-led stories — they didn’t work because they were not particularly good movies.”

Wonder Woman certainly proved all of the naysayers wrong and now Feige is hoping Captain Marvel will continue that tend. As for the perceived rivalry between the two movies Feige says there isn’t one. He’s happy that Wonder Woman did so well because now he doesn’t have to argue that female lead movies can move tickets.

“I’ve always said, I root for all genre movies because the success of those movies helps us,” Feige says. “Because not everybody knows the difference between what studio makes what movie or what comic book company what character comes from. So I’m very pleased when any film in our genre [does well] — not just superheroes, but action or sci-fi or anything. The success of Wonder Woman made me very happy because as I’ve said before in the press, I’d much rather the question be, ‘Oh gosh, what did you think about that successful female-led hero that came out a few years ago?’ Rather than the question I used to get, which was, ‘Are you afraid that people don’t want to see a female hero?’”

So let’s not do the thing we always do and pit two women against each other. There is plenty of room for both of these leading ladies next year and beyond.

Summary: Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.

Captain Marvel, directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, will also star Brie Larson, Jude Law, Gemma Chan, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch,Samuel L. Jackson. The film is set for release on March 8th, 2019.

Kaitlyn is the Editor-in-Chief at Bleeding Cool. She loves movies, television, comics, and political satire. She's a member of the UFCA and the GALECA. Feminist. Writer. Nerd. Follow her on twitter @katiesmovies and @safaiagem on instagram. She's also a co-host at The Nerd Dome Podcast. Listen to it at http://www.nerddomepodcast.com